Don't provoke mentally ill people in the infinite flow genre!

Song Liang had been hiding behind the sofa, thinking he could catch up on some sleep without any problems, when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the bar entrance.

He looked up warily and found a young man and woman standing in front of him; they were Ouyang Yu and Zhang Nan.

How did these two find their way here?

He was startled, but he pretended well on the surface, showing a simple and happy smile.

"Miss Ouyang, Mr. Zhang, what brings you here? That's wonderful! I was just worried that I was all alone and had no one to talk to."

"It's alright," Ouyang Yu said coldly. "Mr. Song is very capable; he can act alone and doesn't need to cooperate with others."

"No, no, my strength is average, and this main quest clearly requires teamwork, so we'd better work together."

Zhang Nan sighed, "I almost... almost... almost died..."

"He almost died, and you're still talking about working together?" Ouyang Yu chimed in, her tone grim. "Mr. Song, this isn't how you cooperate. You're at least a Diamond rank player, right? Harming your own teammates right at the start of the game—is this your usual style?"

"..." A fleeting look of panic crossed Song Liang's eyes. He tried his best to adjust his expression and asked calmly, "How could that be? Who did I harm? Miss Ouyang, don't talk nonsense. We haven't even met in all this time."

"Indeed, we didn't meet, but damage transfer skills don't require face-to-face interaction; they can directly target the enemy, right?"

Song Liang persisted in his denial: "To be honest, I don't have any special skills at all. If you suspect someone is secretly framing Mr. Zhang, you should think about the other people—those twins are very strange, and those three flashy girls are not good people either. Have you watched their live streams?"

Ouyang Yu sneered: "I don't need to have watched their live stream. I only know that a dozen minutes ago, we were even running for our lives together. They simply didn't have the time to commit the crime."

"..."

"We also know about the twins; their skills don't fall under the category of damage transfer."

"..."

"So Mr. Song, you're unlucky this time, you've messed with us." Ouyang Yu pointed to Zhang Nan next to him, "Although my close friend isn't very good at fighting and has a soft personality, he's good at tracking. No matter where you are, he can find you."

Song Liang wasn't stupid; he could tell from her tone that she was determined to have him. His expression immediately changed, and he suddenly threw the low stool next to the sofa at the two of them, then got up and ran towards the door.

As it turned out, Ouyang Yu was much faster than he had imagined. She caught up with him in one stride, swiftly grabbed him with both hands, and pinned him to the ground.

"Trying to run away?" she threatened in a low voice. "I've even beaten up a 300-pound fat guy before. What's your size? I'll gouge out your eyes and let you chew them up."

"No, no!" Song Liang, quick-witted, tried to negotiate with her. "This skill of mine lasts for the entire game. If you hurt me, you're hurting your teammates. It's not worth it, Miss Ouyang!"

"Oh, really?"

Before he could finish speaking, Ouyang Yu's deliberately sharp nails had already slashed across the back of his hand.

Blood gushed from the back of Song Liang's hand instantly. He cried out in pain and struggled violently.

Ouyang Yu glanced at Zhang Nan, making sure that Zhang Nan was no longer injured and that the skill's effect had expired, before pulling out the bottle of foreign liquor that she had just taken from the counter from behind her waist.

She swung a bottle at his head and smashed it to pieces.

"Ah!" Song Liang screamed, clutching his head. "Are you crazy? We're teammates now, at least!"

"My teammates won't do dirty tricks behind my back."

"Damn! That's hilarious. Who doesn't use dirty tricks in this game?" Song Liang was getting a little angry. "You dare say you've never used dirty tricks? What are you pretending to be, good guys? Pure good guys are all dead by now. Would they even be alive to reach Diamond rank?"

"I never said I was a good person. I often use underhanded tricks too." Ouyang Yu said with a half-smile, "But I'm selfish and narrow-minded. If you scheme against me, I will definitely take revenge."

"..."

"But don't worry, you won't die anytime soon. I need you to repay a favor."

* * * * * *

The system operates on a nighttime mechanism: the ghost in the painting rests for one hour after every hour of pursuit, before reappearing to continue the pursuit.

It was 2 a.m., and Yi Zanglan and his two companions had just come out of the flower shop when they ran into the headless violinist.

"Oh my god!" Tang Yunxi was startled and reflexively stepped back. "Who the hell did this?! Stuffing a violin down someone's neck!"

She was busy driving the wheelchair and didn't get a good look, but now that I see it, it's really quite perverted.

Why don't you like my music? Why don't you like my music?!

Just as the violinist was about to pounce on him with a scream, Yi Zanglan pulled his two teammates behind him and quickly pulled out a wad of banknotes from his pocket.

These banknotes were cash that Tang Yunxi had just found in the flowerpot. The amount was probably small, and the location was well hidden, so the robbers didn't notice it at the time.

"I love it, of course I love it!" She raised her voice, enunciating each word clearly so the other could hear her. "I greatly admire your superb musical talent. This melody is truly delightful. Here, young man, you deserve a reward!"

"..."

The violin bow was less than half a meter from her throat when the violinist suddenly froze, constantly adjusting its posture, trying to aim the head on its shoulder at her.

"Really? Would you like to hear me play another piece? This... this is a new piece I composed."

Yi Zanglan nodded: "How could I not be willing? It would be my honor."

"That's great! That's great!"

The violinist's hoarse voice was full of joy, but when it was ready to play, it found that the bow could only be pulled back and forth on its own broken skull, unable to produce any sound.

"...How could this happen? Is my piano broken? This is the piano I bought with all my savings!!!"

It waved the bow wildly, acting like a madman, and looked like it was about to go berserk again.

At the critical moment, Yi Zanglan and Yan Zhao exchanged a glance and made their move simultaneously.

Yi Zanglan suddenly pulled out the violin, while Yan Zhao removed the severed head from the other's shoulder.

The severed head and the violin were instantly swapped by the two of them.

"Who said it's broken? Try it again, this instrument is fine."

The bow touched the violin string, and this time it finally produced a sound. The violinist was stunned, and the head that had been placed back in its original position was mechanically and automatically straightening itself.

Its face, streaked with blood, showed a hint of confusion, but its instincts compelled it to play.

The music was intermittent, the melody was sluggish and cold, sending chills down one's spine.

But the three women gave them plenty of face, dancing to the music with expressions of rapture, as if they were completely immersed in it.

"Is this God's lullaby? Thank you for bringing us such an auditory feast."

Yi Zanglan stuffed the banknotes into the violinist's pocket and pinned a bright red rose to the front of his shirt, offering heartfelt praise.

"Believe me, you will achieve even greater success in music in the future."

"Thank you! Thank you for your kind words, esteemed guest!"

The violinist's cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and he put away his bow, awkwardly bowing to them.

Wearing the rose, it continued playing with abandon, then turned and walked in the opposite direction, quickly turning into a wisp of mist and disappearing into the lamplight of the corridor.

"Sigh," Yan Zhao sighed, "He's a pitiful person too."

Yi Zanglan lowered his eyes to look at the system interface: "At least we have confirmed that fulfilling the vengeful ghost's wish is the core of the mission."

[Artwork Cleanup Progress: 2/12]

"Two have already been cleared out?" Tang Yunxi asked in surprise, then realized, "Then other players must have successfully dealt with a ghost as well."

She had just finished speaking when, a second later, she suddenly heard a sound like ropes rubbing together coming from deep in the corridor.

Without a doubt, the ghost bride has arrived.